3rd Vijaya Bank All India Basketball Tournament to tip off in Bengaluru from 19th Oct

Gopal is an independent basketball writer based out of Bangalore whose articles have appeared in print publications such as Hindu Business Line, Fountain Ink and The Caravan. He also contributes to online platforms sportskeeda.com, tadpoles.in and The Alternative. Email: gopal@ekalavyas.com

The tournament, to be held from 19th to 23rd October 2016, will feature some of the nation’s top men’s club sides such as Vijaya Bank, Cochin Customs, Indian Bank and Kerala State Electricity Board.

12 current and former international players participating, apart from numerous national and state level players.

Matches will be held at Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru every day from 5:00 pm onwards

Bengaluru, 18th October 2016: Karnataka’s leading nationalised bank, Vijaya Bank, is proud to announce the return of the Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty All India Basketball Tournament for Men. The 3rd edition of the tournament will be held at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru from 19th to 23rd October 2016, under the aegis of the Basketball Federation of India and the Karnataka State Basketball Association.

The tournament is being held in the memory of the Late Shri Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, a longstanding former Chairman of Vijaya Bank, who was instrumental in the growth of the bank through the 60s and 70s.

Matches will be played every evening from 5:00 pm onwards in a league cum knockout basis. There are 7 teams in the fray in this tournament, divided into two Groups. The top two teams from each Group will progress to the semifinals followed by the finals.

This edition of the tournament will feature some of the nation’s top men’s club sides such as hosts Vijaya Bank, Cochin Customs, Indian Bank, Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-Chennai, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT)-Chennai and Karnataka State team (‘President’s 11’). Two time runners up ONGC, Dehradun was scheduled to participate but withdrew in the last minute due to injuries sustained to some of their main players during the just concluded FIBA Asia Champions Cup Tournament.

Vijaya Bank- A proud heritage in basketball

Notably, Vijaya Bank is the only recruiter of basketball talent in the state of Karnataka, and has contributed 10 international players to the country, starting with Olympian Gurumurthy Dileep, who joined the bank way back in 1984. Other international players honed by the bank are former India captain BS Gautham (1986), A Rajkumar (1988), S Stalin (1993), G Murali Mohan (1995), Roshan Thankachan (1999), Sanjay Raj (2002), Arvind Arumugam and Rajesh Uppar (both in 2012). Including these international stars, in all, the bank has recruited 25 national level players, who have represented their bank and the state of Karnataka with great pride and gusto.